The Chemical Valley Project at UNO Fest 2018. A review. Intrepid Theatre’s UNO Fest, now in its twenty-first year, runs May 9-19, 2018 in Victoria BC. It features eighteen shows, including two as part of the new Family Fest Series, and a spotlight on women’s indigenous voices with a guest indigenous curator, Yolanda Bonnell. I’ll be featuring interviews, previews and reviews during the festival. Follow … [Read more...]
SPARK Festival 2018 at the Belfry Theatre March 8-25, 2018
March 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment
SPARK Festival 2018 at the Belfry Theatre March 8-25, 2018 Victoria has an abundance of theatre festivals and the Belfry Theatre SPARK Festival is one of my favourites. It kick-starts the festival season in early spring; there are many FREE events (mini-plays, Belfry 101, play readings, concerts and a Hootenanny); there are opportunities to see vibrant, current work by artists not often seen on Victoria stages; it attracts a different … [Read more...]
Victoria Fringe Festival 2017 an overview
August 3, 2017 By Leave a Comment
Victoria Fringe Festival 2017 an overview of the 31st annual festival August 23-September 3 2017. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love the Fringe. I've gone from seeing more shows for the 20th anniversary (2006) than in the previous 20 years COMBINED, to volunteering (2007-2013), to writing previews (2010 on) to providing complete coverage of the festival with "picks", previews, media releases and reviews (30 last year and close … [Read more...]
The Walrus Talks Youth Leadership in Victoria on October 24 2016
October 11, 2016 By Leave a Comment
The Walrus Talks Youth Leadership in Victoria on October 24 2016 The Walrus Foundation and RBC Foundation are pleased to announce a special event exploring youth, leaders, ideas, and questions that will shape our future. RBC Foundation Presents The Walrus Talks Youth Leadership takes place on Monday, October 24 at University of Victoria. This is the latest instalment in the popular nationwide Walrus Talks series. The Walrus Talks … [Read more...]
The Ginger Goodwin Story by Michael Stephen May 9th 2016. A preview.
May 3, 2016 By 3 Comments
The Ginger Goodwin Story by Michael Stephen May 9th 2016. A preview. Michael Stephen has long been interested in social and labour history. For years he taught at the Contact Alternative School for marginalized youth in Toronto. He knew many “Wobblies”—members of the Industrial Workers of the World, an international labour union founded in 1905—which was where he was first introduced to the story of Ginger Goodwin, Vancouver Island’s most … [Read more...]
Bent by Martin Sherman. A fundraiser for the Victoria Refugee Initiative. March 3-6 2016. Interview.
March 1, 2016 By Leave a Comment
Bent by Martin Sherman. A fundraiser for the Victoria Refugee Initiative. March 3-6 2016. Interview. Local actor Trevor Hinton (Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer Night's Dream--Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival; Waiting for Godot--Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre) is one of the core members of a group of citizens (the Victoria Refugee Initiative) who have formed a constituency group to sponsor a family of Syrian refugees to Victoria. The local … [Read more...]
Black History Month 2015 in Victoria BC
February 3, 2015 By Leave a Comment
Black History Month 2015 in Victoria BC A Black History and Heritage Day (February 15th), an evening of performance and song (February 23 at the Belfry Theatre), a gala awards night (February 28th at the Copper Owl), a cemetery tour (February 22nd) and three presentations make up the very ambitious schedule in celebration of BC Black History Month February 2015 in Victoria. Many people are not even aware of the significant role black … [Read more...]
Laughing Allowed! —The Slapstick World of Neighbourhood Activism. November 8th, 2014.
November 3, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Laughing Allowed! —The Slapstick World of Neighbourhood Activism. November 18th, 2014. My readers may remember local theatre director Will Weigler for his community-based work that resulted in From The Heart: Enter the Journey of Reconciliation. He's at it again--this time with a more comedic bent. It’s great when neighbours unite and work hard to make their community better, but sometimes there are bumps on the road to getting … [Read more...]
Faces of Love, Portraits from Our Place by Elfrida Schragen
October 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Faces of Love – Portraits from Our Place by Elfrida Schragen. When artist Elfrida Schragen was approached about a month-long artist-in-residency program at a local resort, she immediately knew what – and who – she wanted to paint. In 2007, Schragen painted a series of portraits featuring people from all walks of life who used the services of Our Place, an inner-city community centre for the most vulnerable of Greater Victoria. When she … [Read more...]
SingYourJoy! Young Adult Chorus Fall Season Start-Up 2014
September 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
SingYourJoy! Young Adult Chorus? Fall Season Start-Up 2014 (media release). Victoria's only young adult community chorus is welcoming new singers for its Fall Season. SingYourJoy is a non-auditioned group for young adults from all walks of life, joining their voices together in an exuberant expression of joy, building friendships, and growing community. The door is open for new (and returning) singers, ages 16 – 29, during the first 3 … [Read more...]
